Twirling baton

ABSTRACT

A twirling baton with a sturdily mounted side handle to enable a novice, as well as a professional, to twirl the same for long periods of time with little effort or attention. In one embodiment, the handle is removable so that the baton may be twirled in a normal manner. One end of the baton is weighted to increase momentum during twirling, and the handle includes bearings to reduce friction.

[451 Jan. 25, 1972 United States Patent Bailey TWIRLING BATON 3,120,147 Fletcher Hooker... [72] Inventor: Jack L. Bailey, 115 Cooper Circle. Oak 2,9]8339 12/1959 K l Ridge, Tenn. 37830 July 30, 1970 Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales Altorney-Martin J. Skinner [22] Filed:

[211 App]. No.:

twirled in a normal manner. One end of the baton is weighted UNITED STATES PATENTS to increase momentum during twirling, and the handle in- 6/1961 I Rohmann dudes bearings to reduce 84/477 on 4 Claims, 4 Drawlng Figures 2,988,949 2,812,683 11/1957 Harroldeta1......

P ATENIEB mes 19. 2

SHEET 1 BF 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present inventionrelates to batons and more particularly to the type twirled by drum majors, majorettes and the like.

Twirling batons are used by persons having a wide range of dexterity in the art of twirling and this includes children with toy batons to professional drum majors or majorettes. In addition, there are baton twirling corps of all ages that engage in competition and in marching demonstrations. It is desirable that a baton be easily twirled by the inexperienced person, or in an efiortless manner for long periods of time by the more experiencedpersons.

For this reason, several types of batons have been developed having a handle attached to the baton shaft whereby baton twirlingmay be simulated: without the usual energy and concentration ofreal twirling.

Typical of these patents arei D. A. Harrold, et al'., US. Pat. No; 2,812,683, Batonf' issued Nov. 12, 1.957;.1. Kaplan,,U.S. Pat. No. 2,918,839, Twirling Baton," issued Dec. 29, 1959; and E. J. Rohmann, US. Pat. No. 2,988,949, Batonfissued June 20, 1961. These patented devices suffer from several deficiencies; principally, none of these prior art provide for detachment of the handle so as to provide a conventional baton. Also, the bearingsurfaces. are such that'the handle may become wobbly after extended: use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by providing a handle having acentral nonrotating spindle, a housing rotatable about the spindle and bearing members interposed between the spindle and the encircling housing. This handle may be permanently fastened-to the baton shaft at its midpoint or may be easily releasedtherefrom to provide a conventional baton.

BRIEF DESCRIPI'IQN'OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILEDDESCRIPTION Referring to. FIG. 1, a hollow baton'shaft 1' of conventional dimensions; e.g.,, about 27 inches long by 9/ 16-inch diameter, has inserted in one end thereof a weight 2. The weight 2 and. a

portion of this end. of shaft 1 are encased in a conventional resilient knob 3. The opposite end of shaft. 1 is encased. in a second conventional resilient knob-4 of lesser mass. A- nonrotatable spindle 5. is attached perpendicularly. lO SI'IBfii l' at. the midpoint between the endsof the shaft. This spindle 5, is divided intounequallengths 6,. 7 by a shoulder 8'. The short portion6 of the spindle, whichmay be circular or square in cross section, passes through close fitting holes in the shaft 1 to completely penetrate-the shaftl, and is joined to the shaft. 1-. as at 9 by welding, brazingor otherpermanent means.

Spaced from andencompassing thelong-portionTof spindle is a cylindrical housing). The spacing is .govemed by, in this. embodiment, a pair of bearing members 11,12. Sleeve bearings, or. a. continuous. bearingsurface mightv equallybe used. Bearing, 1-11 abutsshoulder 8to prevent'axial'movement of housing 10 toward the shaft. 1-, and asnapring 13, engaging arecess14 in spindle 5-; preventsmovement of bearing 12 or housing 10in a directionaway frornshaftv 12 A1 handle grip- 15 is fractionally fitover the housing 10.

My improved baton is twirled with little effort by grasping the handle firmly and initiating'the spinning of the shaft I asby pushing with my index finger against the side of'shaft I. Then with only a slight wrist movement, twirling can be continued as a certain unbalanced momentum is given by weight 2. The rotational plane of the baton may be changed'by twisting my wrist, and thus most movements-of a real twirling baton may be simulated.

A second embodiment of a handle for my twirling baton is illustrated in FIG. 2., In this embodiment, the short portion of spindle 5 is omitted and the shoulder 8 is permanently joined to a cylindrical collar 16. This collar encircles and is. permanently (or semipermanently) attached. at the midpoint. of shaft 1. The internal. components of the handle are the sameas in FIG. 1. This embodiment provides for the attachment of the handle unit to any baton shaft. Operation of the baton is the same as described. above.

Another baton and handle embodiment is shown in FIG. 3 with provision for removal of the handle when desired so as to have a conventional baton. In this embodiment, a cylindrical bushing 17 is inserted: into the shaft 1 and fastened in any manner at the midpoint. between the ends: of the shaft 1. This bushing is providedwith a transverse channel 18 having equal flat surfaces,.e.g., four equal surfaces, toreceive the short portion6" ofspi'ndle 5. This short portion 6 has exterior flat surfaces: corresponding tothe interior of channel 18. Mounted in one flatsurfaceofshortportion6' of spindle 5 is a detent element consisting: of a ball" lland spring 20: Other forms of detentscould be utilized'with equal. resultsrEach of the surfaces of channel 18 contain. arecess=2l to receive ball 19' when the handle is to be attached toshaft 1. Only tworecesses 21 are illustrated in this figure, and take the form of cylindrical passageways. This combination of one detent but a plurality of recesses permits: insertion of the spindle short portion 6' into channel 18 in several orientations, the member depending upon the number of flatsurfaces in channel 18. Also,,the spindle is made nonrotating through. the use of flat surfaces.

Theoperation of thisembodiment is the same as that for the embodiments of: FIGS. I and 2-. except that the handle may be removed. This removal is; accomplished by pushing against shaft 1- in a direction parallel to.the axis of spindle 5. This disengages the ball 19* from a: recess 21 and the handle is removed. This construction is particularly useful for a drum major or majoretteduring a long parade. During periods of routine marching, the handle may be attached and'the baton twirled' without close attention. Then while passingla judging stand or otherpositionwhere twirlingability is tobe demonstrated,the-handle may be-removed, storedin a pocket, and the batonshafttwirledin anormalmanner.

The above-describediballdetent attachment is only one of severalmethods of: releasably attaching the handle to the shaft of my: baton. For example, a. bayonet-type= connection as shown-in FIG. 4may:be used. A bushing-22wouldbe mounted in theshaft 1' which has acylindrical channel 23 oriented perpendicularly. to theaxis of the shaft. One or more grooves 24 would be formedin". the surface of this channel for receiving one or'more projections 25. on the shortend26 of the spindle 7. EachgrooveM'i-wouldhave agenerally. perpendicular offset 27'so that'altwistingmotionof the spindle, asby twisting on the spindle shoulder 8,.moves the spindle projection 25 into the offs'e't27'. A springmember 28fwould' be provided either in the closedend' of thechannel, or in the-end: of the spindle as shown, to ensure frictionalcontact:v of the spindle projection 25in the offset 27'. The handle would'be released from the shaft by compressing: the spring 28*andreleasing'the projections 25 from theoffsets-27 so as to permit removalof the spindle end'lfifromthe channel.

Mybatonhas severalfeatutesandi advantages over those of the knownprior art; Itis' extremely rugged'and will. function satisfactorily for'many years. Furthermore, there are no sharp protrusions ored'ges to damage the hand ofthe operator. A spe al feature I isthe removable handle for usesas described above ortopermit a beginnerto initiallytwirl a baton using the handle but remove the handle when more proficiency is attained.

I claim:

1. A twirling baton comprising:

a. an elongate shaft;

b. a cylindrical bushing mounted centrally within said shaft having a transverse spindle-receiving channel oriented perpendicularly to said shaft;

0. a nonrotatable removable handle spindle projecting from said channel in said bushing; and

d. releasable locking means associated with both said spindle and said channel to secure or release said spindle within said channel.

2. The twirling baton of claim 1 wherein said channel is provided with at least one recess in the surface thereof, and said spindle is provided with at least one projection extending perpendicularly thereto for releasable engagement with said recess to thereby comprise said releasable locking means.

3. The twirling baton of claim 2 wherein said channel has equal flat surfaces; said recess is circular in cross section; said spindle has flat surfaces at one end thereof equal in number to those of said channel for slideable engagement therewith; and said projection on said spindle is a ball detent to releasably engage said recess.

4. The twirling baton of claim 2 wherein said recess in said channel is a longitudinal slot having an offset perpendicular thereto; said projection on said spindle releasably engages said offset; and further comprising a spring member within said channel to increase frictional engagement of said projection in said offset to releasably attach said spindle within said channel.

I t l I. 

1. A twirling baton comprising: a. an elongate shaft; b. a cylindrical bushing mounted centrally within said shaft having a transverse spindle-receiving channel oriented perpendicularly to said shaft; c. a nonrotatable removable handle spindle projecting from said channel in said bushing; and d. releasable locking means associated with both said spindle and said channel to secure or release said spindle within said channel.
 2. The twirling baton of claim 1 wherein said channel is provided with at least one recess in the surface thereof, and said spindle is provided with at least one projection extending perpendicularly thereto for releasable engagement with said recess to thereby comprise said releasable locking means.
 3. The twirling baton of claim 2 wherein said channel has equal flat surfaces; said recess is circular in cross section; said spindle has flat surfaces at one end thereof equal in number to those of said channel for slideable engagement therewith; and said projection on said spindle is a ball detent to releasably engage said recess.
 4. The twirling baton of claim 2 wherein said recess in said channel is a longitudinal slot having an offset perpendicular thereto; said projection on said spindle releasably engages said offset; and further comprising a spring member within said channel to increase frictional engagement of said projection in said offset to releasably attach said spindle within said channel. 